Converting the Frigidaire 7.2 cu ft Chest Freezer

[Quaffer]

I was inspired by several freezer conversions posted in this forum. I decided to build my own collared freezer conversion with the following goals:

• At least four taps. I expect to have several brews going at once, plus a soda tap for the kids from time to time.
• Two different CO2 pressures so that I can carbonate at high pressure and serve at low pressure at the same time.
• It needs to be portable since I cannot dedicate a specific place in my home to this thing.
• It should be easy to build. I don't have the skills nor time to take on an epic woodworking project. Anyone with basic DIY skills can build this project. Really.
• It should not be ugly. I want to be able to have this in my living room without being embarrassed. You be the judge.

So let's start at the end with the finished project. Here's a closeup of the collar and taps.

The collar is built from 2x8 inch Western Hemlock lumber, stained with Zinsser Cabernet wood stain and two layers Minwax polyurethane semi gloss. It has a Starr bottle opener with transparent bottle cap catch, a Love temperature controller, and four Perlick forward sealing faucets 525SS. There is a 19.25" s.s. drip tray attached to the kegerator wall by three angle brackets and heavy duty double-sticky foam tape. The foam tape should hold five lbs. The drip tray has not budged at all.

Next picture shows the front of the kegerator including the casters.

It was difficult to photograph the kegerator and do the colors justice. The black color tends to increase the lighting requirements, but increased lighting makes the collar glow with an unnatural bright orange color. These pictures represent the best compromise I could achieve between the natural colors of the kegerator and illumination quality.

I decided to base the kegerator on a brand new Frigidaire 7.2 cu ft chest freezer from Lowe's. This saved a lot of time by not having to restore an older beat-up freezer, and this model is reasonably priced.

Oh yes, before I get comments on the low serving temperature, I was actually not serving beer when these pictures were taken, but cold-crashing a fermenter before kegging.

 

[Quaffer]

Before removing the lid, insert nails in the hinges to prevent them from flying open as you remove the screws. You can see a nail I put in a hole on the hinge in this picture.

I wanted to mount the casters discretely to make it look like they were original equipment. The next picture shows one of the 3" fixed casters installed on the bottom frame. The frame is too flimsy to be able to support the casters directly so I had to make reinforcements from 0.125" thick steel bar.

This picture shows one of the swiveling casters with brake, installed on reinforcement cut from a Strongtie I found at the home improvement store. I had to cut a notch in the steel to clear the foot.

 

[Quaffer]

I built the collar on top of the freezer so that I could check that everything lined up. The boards are Western Hemlock 2x8, thinned down to 1.25" thickness on a table saw. The lid seal is one inch wide so I provide an equally wide area on top of the collar for it to seat against. I made an additional allowance of 0.25" for the round-over already present on the outside of the board. This allows enough width for the seal to completely seat, and it maximizes the thickness of the foam boards I can put inside the collar.

I predrilled holes and used finishing nails to hold the mitered boards together. This helps prevent something slipping as I assemble it. I found out the hard way not to spackle the nail heads. The area touched by spackling will absorb stain differently than the surroundings, even though it is invisible before staining. I had to spot sand around the nail heads and restain to fix it.

Here's the collar assembled with steel reinforcements in the inside corners. The reasons the corner reinforcements are not centered vertically is that there is a ridge where the saw blade met itself as I flipped the board over to cut from the other side. In the back I have a clamp holding a sliver in place for gluing, which I had knocked out dropping the board on the floor.

Here's the finished collar with a coat of Zinsser Cabernet wood stain. The collar glows in an unnatural orange because of the strong photo flash. You can see the cutout for the Love temperature controller and four holes cut by a 1" hole saw on 4" centers. I put the taps as high as I could get away with because additional height is a good thing on collared freezer conversions, which can tend to be a little low for comfort and esthetics.

 

[Quaffer]

I made cleats from an 0.75" angle aluminum bar. The one large screw will go into the wood of the collar, while the smaller self-drilling screws will go into the plastic frame on the freezer body.

Here the collar has been set on a bed of adhesive caulking and held in place by several aluminum cleats. I also applied a bead of caulking around the inside of the collar to prevent any spills or condensation to get under the wood. By the way, the wood inside has one coat of polyurethane to improve its moisture resistance.

 

[Quaffer]

Here I have run an electrical cable from the temperature controller site, around the corner and towards the back of the collar. Cable clips hold the cable in place.

The Love temperature controller is hanging from its wires. On the right are two wires for the temperature sensor, on the left are three wires for 110VAC electrical power and the relay output. White is neutral, black is live, a green jumper connects the live to one of the relay switch terminals, and the final green wire carries the switched power down to the compressor.

Here is the compressor compartment with wiring before modification. I have a wall bug laying loose on the frame which will eventually power the internal fan. Incoming power cord from a wall outlet can be seen on the left. The green wire is ground and attaches to the frame. The white wire is neutral and is spliced to the compressor and the power-on light on the front of the freezer. The barely visible black wire is live 110VAC which is spliced to the original thermostat in the foreground and to the power-on light. The cable from the Love controller is coiled up on top of the compressor.

This is the picture after modifying the wiring. I spliced the white neutral wire using a solder junction. One of the white wires go to the Love controller, the other is soldered to one of the wall bug prongs and then wrapped in electrical tape. The wall bug is secured to the frame with several turns of electrical tape. The live wire is, as previous, connected to the original thermostat, the other thermostat terminal feeds the Love controller via the black wire in the cable. This way I can use the original thermostat like a switch to power down the system.

The Love controller provides switched power on the green wire which is connected by a yellow wire nut to the compressor and to the last prong on the wall bug. This allows the fan to run when the compressor runs, and stop when the compressor stops. I like this rather than having it run all the time because the electrical energy given to the fan is dissipated as heat inside the kegerator, making it less efficient.

The wall bug is a 6V DC unregulated model which outputs 7.7V DC when connected to my 12V fan. I found this to be ideal because the fan is very powerful, and unnecessarily so at 12V. We need just a moderate breeze from the fan to circulate the air in the kegerator.

I keep a partially filled glass of water in the fridge for the temperature sensor. This helps to slow down fast temperature fluctuations as I open the lid or the fan starting. If we have too much water in the glass it slows down the controller's response to temperature change too much and it will undershoot the set temperature.

 

[Quaffer]

By thinning the collar to 1.25" I could fit 1.5" thick pink foam board inside the collar and still not encroach on the available space under the collar. In other words, the foam boards are almost flush with the inside freezer walls. The first picture shows the front foam board with cutouts for the faucets, the temperature controller, and its wiring. I also notched out spaces for the cleats to fit in. One brass nut from the faucets is test fitted in the hole for size.

Here is a side foam panel with the special foam board adhesive applied. It goes on like tooth paste. The other three panels are already installed.

Because of that ridge left in the center of the collar boards by the table saw, it is a little difficult to hold the foam boards tight against the wood. I put up this contraption of braces and clamps to force the panels into place.

 

[Quaffer]

Here's the two-output manifold that I plan to use for high-pressure carbonation. It is held in place by two hanger bolts. A hanger bolt (shown) has a wood screw at one end and a machine screw at the other. It is installed in a pre-drilled hole, driven by a wrench and two nuts jammed together on the machine threads. Using hanger bolts allows me to easily detach and reinstall the manifolds should it become necessary.

Both manifolds are test fitted. I was also cold crashing a carboy at that time. Notice the fan sitting on the compressor hump, aimed between the carboy and the cold wall for good circulation and fast cooling. I will keep the fan unattached for now so that I can move it to the most beneficial position for the situation. Also notice how little the 3" faucet shanks protrude into the space. This helps getting kegs in and out without getting cought on the shanks.

The four-output manifold is put into service. CO2 enters on the right through the back wall. The fan is now tilted upwards to circulate air into the warmer upper level which has no active cooling. You can also see a Velcro strap holding the 10' coil of beer line in place. These were designed for cable harnesses, but they really save my sanity preventing the beer lines to uncoil and tangle with everything.

The left manifold is now plumbed with CO2 and carbonating a couple of kegs. The hardware store was out of the six inch long 0.25" brass nipples I needed, so I used a galvanized one instead. I may replace this at a later time with the proper brass one. In the back corner you can see the fan wire go though the foam board into a micro switch activated by the lid. The idea is to stop the fan when we open the lid. This prevents the fan from blowing the precious cold air out of the kegerator. It also makes it much easier to reposition the fan as needed. For now the fan runs with the compressor, but I am considering a dual temp sensor fan controller that starts the fan when the temperature differential between the high and low sensor exceeds a certain value.

 

[Quaffer]

There is limited space inside the kegerator so I wanted to mount the CO2 bottle and regulators on the back wall. The CO2 bottle hanger is built from .125" thick steel bar stock using a stick welder. It has the form of the letter 'T', where the upper crossbar is attached to the collar with wood screws. I needed to use two layers of steel bar to build up enough height to get passed the plastic frame between the freezer body and collar. The bottom part of the hanger is bent up slightly more than 90 degrees to reach into the shallow recess on the underside of the bottle. The bottle hanger has two buckles that I pass a web strap through and hold the bottle securely in place. On the right you can see the power and fan cables attached to the wall by adhesive cable tie anchors.

This is a closeup on the web strap and buckle. The web strap passes through these metal pieces I welded on the end of the support bars. The support bars are bent outwards as seen from above to form a cradle for the CO2 bottle to sit in.

This view shows how the CO2 bottle is held in place with the web strap down low and with a metal clamp, made from plumbers strap, up high.

In the view from above we see that the regulator is angled in towards the wall. This to protect it from bumping into things as I push the kegerator around.

The CO2 bottle and the regulators are held in place by clamps, supported by eye lag screws. Eye lag screws are hard to find. At McLendons they knew what I wanted but they stopped carrying these some time back. At Home Depot they did not know what I was talking about. I ended up ordering a pack of 20 online at the Amazon marketplace, from ANTOnline.


This is the completed installation of the 5 lbs CO2 bottle on the back of the kegerator.

 

[Quaffer]

Major components:

• Frigidaire 7.2 cu ft chest freezer, black, from Lowes
• 2x8 western hemlock lumber (HemFir), Home Depot
• Zinsser wood stain Cabernet, Lowes (I cannot find it anymore)
• Minwax polyurethane, clear semi-gloss, Lowes
• 3" polyurethane rigid caster, Harbor Freight Tools
• 3" Polyurethane swivel caster with lock, Harbor Freight Tools
• 2 keg kegerator kit with dual regulator, 5# CO2 tank, hoses w. disconnects, Kegconnection's Ebay store
• 4-way CO2 gas distribution manifold, HomeBrewStuff.com
• 2-way CO2 gas distribution manifold, HomeBrewStuff.com
• Love Temperature controller, TSX-10140, Dwyer Instruments, Inc.
• Masscool 120mm computer fan, MP3SuperStore on Ebay
• Perlick Perl Forward Sealing Faucet (525SS), Austin Homebrew Supply
• 3" stainless steel beer shanks, brauman59 on Ebay
• Starr bottle opener "Home Brewed" with clear bottle cap catcher, Kegconnection's Ebay store
• 19.25" Stainless steel drip tray, Ebay
• 1.5" Rigid foamboard panels, Home Depot
• PL300 Foamboard adhesive, Home Depot

 

[LumberjackJohn]

Looks good! I just got a used 7 ft^3 freezer from Craiglist about a month ago, I need to start the conversion soon. I bought a thermostat for temp control I just need to go to EPO and get a relay. I don't think mine will look anywhere near as classy as yours. Keep up the good work!

 

[FlashRedGLS18T]

Looks great and very clean.

 

[Quaffer]

Looks good! I just got a used 7 ft^3 freezer from Craiglist about a month ago, I need to start the conversion soon. I bought a thermostat for temp control I just need to go to EPO and get a relay. I don't think mine will look anywhere near as classy as yours. Keep up the good work!

Thank you.
I have learned most of the tricks needed for this project right here on this board. Look at many projects and you'll find the right combination for you, and ask questions if in doubt. I found the Show us your Kegerator thread very helpful, but it has grown into a monster thread that is almost unreadable now, at least from start to finish.

 

[BSBrewer]

Looks great! I am in the process of converting the same freezer myself - just cut all the wood and pre-stained them today. I went with 2x8 as well but am slightly less concerned with the overall look as its going into my laundry/boiler room with lines run to the tower on my bar.

Good idea with the cleats though - was trying to figure out how I was going to affix the collar to the freezer.

 

[MMTG]

OUtstanding! Love the clean lines of your keezer. Thank you for sharing

 

[DirtyPolock]

After seeing all of the builds on the "show us your kegerator" sticky and looking at your thread, I really like you keezer build for its simplicity and classy look. It has inspired me to want to build my own version, likely along the same lines of your build. I just have a couple quick questions.

1. Are you able to get four corny kegs on the floor without having to go on the compressor hump? Looking at EdWort's sticky thread it is showing 3 kegs on the floor, and your set-up is leading me to believe that you can fit four.

2. If you were to attach the collar to the lid, how difficult do you think that it would be. I'm not much of a DIY'er and I would prefer to attach it to the lid, but depending on the work needed I may instead just attach the collar to the base.

Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Quaffer]

After seeing all of the builds on the "show us your kegerator" sticky and looking at your thread, I really like you keezer build for its simplicity and classy look. It has inspired me to want to build my own version, likely along the same lines of your build. ... Thanks for the inspiration!

Thank you DP. I am glad I can inspire like I have been inspired.

1. Are you able to get four corny kegs on the floor without having to go on the compressor hump? Looking at EdWort's sticky thread it is showing 3 kegs on the floor, and your set-up is leading me to believe that you can fit four.

EdWort is right. Three on the floor and one (easy) or two (harder) on the hump is it. To have a Corny on the hump you will need a collar 7.25" tall which happens to be the actual height of a 2x8. That is the primary reason I chose to use 2x8s for the collar. If I remember correctly the similar Magic Chef freezer can fit four Cornies on the floor, therefore it needs a less tall collar to fit four, but I know little about that freezer.

When I first got the Frigidaire I played around with empty cornies and carboys to see what I could fit. I could fit three Cornies on the floor, one on the hump + one 5 gal carboy if I built a shelf that extends the hump out on the floor a bit on one side. I have not yet built this shelf, and that was before I added all the other junk such as manifolds and faucets, but it should still fit. Currently I have one really wide fermentation bucket on the hump and three Cornies on the floor, and I cannot fit anything else in there. A carboy is slimmer and opens up the space so that I could fit a fourth Corny. By the way, the carboy is there to ferment lager beer which I also like, Oktoberfest and real pilseners for example.

2. If you were to attach the collar to the lid, how difficult do you think that it would be. I'm not much of a DIY'er and I would prefer to attach it to the lid, but depending on the work needed I may instead just attach the collar to the base.

A lot of people like attaching the collar to the lid, so it is probably a good idea in many cases. The reason I did not attach it to the lid is that I need a 7.25" tall collar to fit a keg on the hump and that is a lot of wood to hang from the lid, especially if it is built from 2-bys without thinning them first like I did. The benefit of attaching the collar to the lid is that you do not need to lift the full (heavy) kegs as high as I do. I need a foot stool to stand on to get the full kegs in there. Not a problem for me since I have a stool in the same room, to sit on to light the wood stove. Another inconvenience with a body-mounted collar is that I cannot reach the floor inside with my hand. I clean the bottom with a sponge mop and pick up stuff in there with a picker-upper claw.

The benefits of attaching the collar to the freezer body are: You do not need to move the seal from the lid to the collar. You do not need to worry about the weight added to the lid since there is none. With a lid-attached collar you will need more free space behind the kegerator to open the lid. It is a judgment call where to mount the collar. For you it may be a different choice than mine. I'll be glad to answer any further question you may have during your build, or any other reader of this thread.

 

[SankePankey]

Hey-

I am in the process of turning a Magic Chef 7.2 into a keezer and thought I'd post about my design. It's not all that special (except that it's MINE), but a couple of things I though were worth mentioning. I am doing a collar attached to the lid. Don't have any pics yet but...

I used a 1X8 for the collar and I used a tongue and groove siding board from Lowes. The tongue fits perfectly into the top lid's groove for the freezer's seal. And the seal itself then fits perfectly into the groove on the board with no glue or anything on either. I probably will attach the collar to the lid with a couple L-brackets just for extra support, but I can say that it is so tight that it doesn't even seem necessary. It was difficult to cut nice 45 degree angles so the tongues and grooves would fit together as necessary with just a circular saw and not a mider saw, but it got done. I had to some bathroom caulk in the cracks, but I plan on painting it instead of staining it, so that's not an issue.

The hinges are plenty strong for the 1X8 and I don't see why a 2X8 is any better if you are going to use rigid insulation on the inside like I did. I think the benefits of attaching the collar to the lid are greater so everything gets out of your way when you want to open and you don't risk banging a shank nipple with a heavy keg.

As of this point I have made no modifications at all to the freezer and I could take er apart and sell her as is with no problem, but after all the work I decided I can't for see ever wanting to do that and would likely take er with me if I moved.

Party on, Wayne.:rockin:

 

[Quaffer]

The hinges are plenty strong for the 1X8 and I don't see why a 2X8 is any better if you are going to use rigid insulation on the inside like I did. I think the benefits of attaching the collar to the lid are greater so everything gets out of your way when you want to open and you don't risk banging a shank nipple with a heavy keg.

If you are attaching the collar to the lid then 1x8 lumber is a better choice than 2x8, for sure. The reason I used 2x8 thinned down to 1.25" is that in a collar-on-body setup the collar serves as the seal surface, and my seal is 1" wide. Any less than 1" surface width and the seal will not perform as well. With the collar-on-lid installation the original seal surface is retained.

The risk with collar-on-lid is that the hinge springs may not be able to support the lid in the open position, and you may not find out until you add the last components and it will not stay open. One could then use a rod to prop up the lid, like on some cars and trucks. But if the suspended weight is kept low it will probably work without additional support.

Good luck with your project

 

[erikhillard]

"Quaffer" you've done a great job here. I'm quite impressed and am really considering doing a chest conversion with a black freezer. Yours looks very nice. Thanks for all the photos. I'll definitely come back and look closely at your details again when I closer to building.

I do wish there was a good way to do a Tower on a chest freezer, but it doesn't seem like it would work out very well.

 

[Xtant]

Very nice. Exactly what I want to build and the look I am going for. Hopefully mine comes out looking half as nice as yours does

 

[Lilrascal]

Did the frigidaire model have a built in temperature alarm? If it did does that cause any type of problems since these will be running at above freezing temperatures. I have seen a couple chest models with built in temperature alarms, and I wasn't sure. Thanks.

 

[Quaffer]

Did the frigidaire model have a built in temperature alarm? If it did does that cause any type of problems since these will be running at above freezing temperatures. I have seen a couple chest models with built in temperature alarms, and I wasn't sure. Thanks.

No, there is no temperature alarm on this model. It is a low-end model I guess because it does not have such whistles and bells. In this case that's a good thing.

 

[user 40839]

I wanted to mount the casters discretely to make it look like they were original equipment. The next picture shows one of the 3" fixed casters installed on the bottom frame. The frame is too flimsy to be able to support the casters directly so I had to make reinforcements from 0.125" thick steel bar.

This picture shows one of the swiveling casters with brake, installed on reinforcement cut from a Strongtie I found at the home improvement store. I had to cut a notch in the steel to clear the foot.

Resurrecting this one: I'm guessing that installing the casters like this didn't effect the coolant coils in any way? How long were those bolts?

I'm nervous about just attaching them like this, with the bolts going straight into the unit (via a support plate) but can't go the cart route since my overall height is already a lot (same freezer, with a 7" collar, and I'm going with an Irish coffin)

 

[Rick500]

Looks great! And familiar.

You've given me an idea or two on how to improve mine.

Really nice work.

 

[CenCalWorthog]

<--------------------------- Jealous

Great build, very nice.

 

[Quaffer]

Resurrecting this one: I'm guessing that installing the casters like this didn't effect the coolant coils in any way? How long were those bolts?

I'm nervous about just attaching them like this, with the bolts going straight into the unit (via a support plate) but can't go the cart route since my overall height is already a lot (same freezer, with a 7" collar, and I'm going with an Irish coffin)

The bolts were about one inch long. The risk is minimal because of the location. To be safe I first carefully drilled through the metal, avoiding to go any deeper than absolutely necessary. Then I poked a nail up in the foam insulation to make sure there were no tubes in there.

Your Irish coffin is going to be great. Please post pictures.

 

[luniz7]

This is awesome! Good job!

 

[zymurgy101]

Do you have a final cost (approximately)?

 

[Quaffer]

Do you have a final cost (approximately)?

I have not calculated the final cost, but the most expensive components were: Freezer (now $259), 2 kegs + 5# CO2 cyl. + dual reg. & hoses $189, set of four kegs $100 delivered (not sure if we should count them here), Temperature regulator ~$45. I got a good deal on the four Perlicks, they were on sale but I don't remember the price. Four 3" s.s. shanks ~$17 ea. Gas manifolds $45 + $30. Drip tray $20. Add $100-$200 for miscellaneous and we're getting close. It's adding up and I don't even want to total it.

 

[Quaffer]

Looks great! And familiar.

You've given me an idea or two on how to improve mine.

Really nice work.

It looks familiar because your keezer was an inspiration for my build. Thanks Rick500!

 

[fatman]

After poring over the mega-thread monster I decided to model my Keezer Build after yours. I have to say it is quite pleasing to the eye and seems pretty simple to build. I picked up a 12.8 CF over the weekend for 50 bux and beginning the rust removal tonight while prepping the wood. I cant wait for this baby to be built. Its even wife approved!

Also, since I am a kegging noob, does it make any difference to having the CO2 inside or outside the keezer?

 

[Quaffer]

.... Also, since I am a kegging noob, does it make any difference to having the CO2 inside or outside the keezer?

Not for the carbonation process, but it does make a difference for the space inside. It really helped my smaller keezer to move the bottle to the outside. There is also somewhat less clutter of hoses this way. The drawback is that now the keezer is wider so I need to disconnect the CO2 bottle to get through doors. As they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Good luck with your project.

 

[firefly765]

Hey Quaffer,

Is there any problem with cutting out a hole in the lid of this freezer? I'm planning a build mounting an Irish coffin box on top of the freezer.

Also, the lid handle....do you think that would come off easily? I'm planning on tiling the top in granite.

Thanks.

 

[Quaffer]

Hey Quaffer,
Is there any problem with cutting out a hole in the lid of this freezer? I'm planning a build mounting an Irish coffin box on top of the freezer.

There should be no problem cutting a hole in the lid. There are no wires or refrigerant tubes in there. I have not opened it though.

Also, the lid handle....do you think that would come off easily? I'm planning on tiling the top in granite.

Granite, sweet! The handle seems to be attached at the top only. My guess is that there are a couple of screws from the inside holding it in place. Whatever it is, I doubt you will run into troube with it. You will have to remove the lining from the lid to get to it.

You project sounds great! Good luck with it.

 

[firefly765]

There should be no problem cutting a hole in the lid. There are no wires or refrigerant tubes in there. I have not opened it though.



Granite, sweet! The handle seems to be attached at the top only. My guess is that there are a couple of screws from the inside holding it in place. Whatever it is, I doubt you will run into troube with it. You will have to remove the lining from the lid to get to it.

You project sounds great! Good luck with it.

I was planning on attaching the collar to the freezer not the lid because of the weight of the granite & coffin box. Do you think that's wise?

 

[Quaffer]

I was planning on attaching the collar to the freezer not the lid because of the weight of the granite & coffin box. Do you think that's wise?

That is what I would do. However, more people seem to go for the collar-on-lid setup. If you attach the collar to the lid and the springs are not able to hold the lid open, you could add a prop or two to keep it open. I think it would work fine either way.

 

[mikewildt]

There is a 19.25" s.s. drip tray attached to the kegerator wall by three angle brackets and heavy duty double-sticky foam tape. The foam tape should hold five lbs. The drip tray has not budged at all.

First off I must say your setup is quite impressive. I am basing my build off many of the steps you took. I have painted my chest freezer black, and cut and stained my collar today. There is a ways to go but I finally acquired all of my parts from the construction pieces to a kit from kegworks, including a double pressure regulator which I am pumped about.

I have two questions for you. First off, do you know what brand of double sided foam tape you used for you drip tray? I have found many online that seem similar but all seem discontinued or out of stock, nor can I find exactly what it seems like you used.

Second, I have found a lot of instructions on how to cool a beer tower, using a tube and a small computer fan to pump cold air all the way to the end of the beer lines. But have you seen or heard of any ideas or instructions that work for builds like ours where our faucets are connected through shanks driven through the collar? I have a friend with a similar kegerator build and he always has to cool his faucets down by wasting a pint of foam. Don't know if there is such a way but would be interested to know if there was!

 

[Bobby_M]

You don't have to cool the faucets through a collar. Just run a small fan to keep the air moving in the chest. I dump the first 2oz pour (into my pie hole) then it pours perfectly for the next pint.

 

[Quaffer]

First off, do you know what brand of double sided foam tape you used for you drip tray? I have found many online that seem similar but all seem discontinued or out of stock, nor can I find exactly what it seems like you used.

I got it at Lowes/Home Depot, but they don't seem to carry it anymore. I still have the roll, but it has no markings. After a little searching I found it at Amazon, for example. It is called 3M Scotch 4011 Exterior Mounting Tape, 1 in x 60 in. I should add it to the bill of materials.

Second, I have found a lot of instructions on how to cool a beer tower, using a tube and a small computer fan to pump cold air all the way to the end of the beer lines. But have you seen or heard of any ideas or instructions that work for builds like ours where our faucets are connected through shanks driven through the collar? I have a friend with a similar kegerator build and he always has to cool his faucets down by wasting a pint of foam. Don't know if there is such a way but would be interested to know if there was!

I finally mounted my fan on a 3" plastic pipe which stands on the bottom of the freezer with the fan mounted on top, about 4" from the lid. The pipe has large holes cut with a hole saw around the bottom so the fan can suck cold air from the bottom and circulate it up to the collar to cool the beer lines and the back of the faucets. Not my idea, I saw it done on this board somewhere. I also added a switch so I can turn on the fan full-time when I am getting ready to serve.

Even so, the first glass I pour is about 60% foam, the second just right. It is not a big problem, just let the glass sit for a couple of minutes, then top it up. This is how they serve Guinness after all.

By the way, Bobby_M's freezer conversion was the first I ever saw. I found it while cruising YouTube, among many other of his excellent videos. It is what brought me to this site and the original inspiration for my build.

 

[mikewildt]

So I finished the construction of the kegerator. Was a fun project and I am satisfied with the results. Thanks to all the help from QUAFFER and several other forums on HomeBrewTalk. Currently as you can see there is only one tap set up, but as I can afford more faucets I will be adding on 5 additional Perlick Perls. Also have yet to buy and build on the drip tray. The first beer I tapped was a Racer 5 keg, and what a difference that beer is out of the bottle. Will put additional photo updates up as pieces are added.

Upgraded the regulator. That is not a picture of the Racer 5, that is a Pabst 15 gal keg I put in there to test how much space I would have. Also not pictured in this is the temperature controller because I had to exchange it for a new one. First one was dead on arrival, but it is a Johnson A19 digital controller.